


Dangerous Living

by TheClassics4



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pirate AU, angsty angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-02
Updated: 2013-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-27 22:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/667397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheClassics4/pseuds/TheClassics4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicholas and Belle are captured for their crimes as pirates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dangerous Living

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Christmas present for my lovely sister, Autumn :)

The docks were crowded that morning, as they usually were. Belle had hoped because it was Sunday, it would provide them with at least a small amount of anonymity. She’d been wrong. There were soldiers standing guard to her left and some on her right, who were sitting to take a drink. Their bright colored coats made them stand out from the bleakly dressed sailors. Belle had no doubt about why they were here.

Pirates.

Belle tried not to look too uneasy as she twirled her parasol over her shoulder. She watched the horizon; any boat out there could be Nicholas’ ship. From this distance, they all looked the same.

As they came closer, Belle was able to pinpoint the ship she needed. Carefully, Belle made her way to the correct dock and, when she looked around, saw that no officers took notice of her. Her confidence was growing that they may just get away from here.

The ship finally docked and she had to contain herself when she saw Nicholas coming toward her. Immediately, her eyes went to the crutch he leaned on, then the empty pant leg beneath him.

She skidded to a halt in front of him and he laughed at her reaction. “Had to chop it off. After a bullet.”

“Oh, Nick,” she sighed, carefully embracing him, “Did it hurt?”

“Like hell.” He hugged her back, squeezing her tightly with his one arm, “But it’s healed now.”

“Here, let me take this,” said Belle and she reached for his bag.

“No, dear, I’m not entirely useless,” he said and, heaving his bag back onto his shoulder, he started walking again.

The missing limb would take some getting used to, but Belle did not hate it. She knew that there was always risk when he was at sea, just as there was risk when they were on land. Belle would never tell him, but she loved it. There were so many restrictions on what a woman could do, they sat home and sewed or they sat home and raised children. It was such a boring life.

With Nicholas, Belle could actually  _live_. He could not take her everywhere, but she’d seen more of the world than any other woman had. The danger was worth being with him.

“Excuse me!” a voice called, making both of them halt. He glanced at her and gave only a tiny nod before turning.

“Yes?” Nicholas smiled and leaned a bit more heavily on his walking stick to face the soldier.

“Where’ve you come from?”

“Marseilles,” he said calmly. Belle watched the ground, knowing if she only stayed quiet, she would most likely be overlooked.

“Your occupation?”

“I’m a sailor.”

“Where’d your leg go?”

“I don’t know…probably off in the ocean somewhere.”

Belle couldn’t suppress a small giggle, which immediately attracted the attention of the soldier. Again, she lowered her eyes.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before. What’s your name?”

“Nicholas Gold, sir.”

“What’s your business here, Mr. Gold?”

“…My fiancée,” he said, looking to Belle. She immediately looked up. He’d never called her that before, but it made her giddy like a small girl and she beamed at the officer.

“Yes, my fiancé,” she agreed. Her arm was already slipped through his, but she squeezed him a little closer.

“And your name, ma’am?”

“Isabelle. Isabelle French.”

“Ah, daughter of Sir Maurice French?”

“Um…” Belle swallowed, but answered truthfully, “Yes.”

The soldier didn’t even have to speak. The other men around him immediately came forward, grasping her and Nicholas both by the arm.

“What are you doing?!” He yelled, stumbling forward with their force.

“Miss Isabelle French, your father has sent word to us to watch for you.”

“My father?” Belle’s chest tightened. She hadn’t thought of her father in months, but she should have known he would be looking for her. When she’d left, he’d been  _so_  angry; she shouldn’t have thought he would simply forget her.

“Yes, said quite specifically you’d run off with a  _pirate_.” He looked pointedly at Nicholas. “Take them away.”

They were set in two different cells in the small prison. They were roughly shoved through the doors, Nicholas collapsing immediately on his knee. Belle crouched next to the iron bars, watching as he slowly rolled over.

“Are you alright,” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

Nicholas threw his hands over his face, but not before Belle could see how he was trying to hold back tears. “I’m sorry, Belle,” he said through his hands, “This is all my fault.”

“No, it’s not.”

“If I had not have asked you—”

“I still would have come. Nick,” Belle reached her hand through the bars, but he still kept his face covered, “Nicholas, look at me.”

Slowly, he peered out at her. When he saw her hand, he rolled over to reach it with his own.

“I chose this,” said Belle, locking her fingers with his. “I  _wanted_  this.”

“I shouldn’t have ever—”

“Stop it!” she snapped. How many times did she have to tell him that he was good enough for her? Yes, her father had money, he had status, but Belle despised all of it. It was superficial and none of it meant anything. What she had with Nicholas was real. Her feelings were real. She loved him. And she knew he loved her. She’d told this to him. All of it—yet he still didn’t believe her. “I don’t regret anything…do you?”

“No!” He scooted closer to her, pressing her hand to his lips, “Of course not. Maybe they’ll have contacted your father. He’ll make sure you get out.”

Belle shook her head, “Nick, you know my father. He won’t care.”

“He’s a disgusting man,” Nicholas stared at their hands, slowly shaking his head. “An abomination of the word ‘father’. He should save you. It’s a father’s job.”

“I wouldn’t go with him.”

“Don’t say that,” he said, finally meeting her gaze.

“It’s true. This is the way I want it to be. We’ll be together,” she said, squeezing his hand. Belle did not fear their fate. The gallows were not the most painful death. She had lived the full life she’d wanted. It could have gone on longer, but she’d lived. A few years ago, she would have thought it would never be possible. Death would have terrified her. Now, though, she had lived her life and she could die with no regrets.

Belle tugged Nicholas closer to the iron bars, close enough to embrace her and meet her lips. She touched him as much as she could, pressing herself into the metal. His arms had some difficulty slipping through the slots, but he managed to get his arms around her.

They both knew the morning would bring their end, but tonight was for them. That night they could think of only each other.


End file.
